[0001] This invention relates to scan conversion apparatus and a method for converting data
sensed in sector format to raster format for display. More particularly, the invention
relates to a scan converter and method for a single-sector or multi-sector ultrasonic
scanner for sampling and storing the received echo data in a raster type geometry
and processing the read-out data for display on a cathode ray tube (television monitor).
[0002] Conventional analog scan converters employ delicate electron beam storage tubes which
are both expensive and difficult to maintain. Many previous attempts to implement
a digital scan converter have either been very expensive or have introduced objectionable
errors in the display resulting in degraded image quality. The basic reason for the
poor image quality of such previous implementations is that the locations of the input
data samples have not corresponded to those of the output dat.a in a manner that permits
a simple interpolation to obtain the correct output data. That is, the physical locations
of the input data are not related tc those of the output data of the scan converter
in a simple way.
[0003] The: single-sector scanner ultrasonic imager is a real time imaging system having
a linear transducer array as depicted in FIG. 1. To make a sector scan the elemental
transducers are excited in linear time sequence to generate angulated acoustic beams
at many different angles relative to the normal to the array at the midpoint. Echoes
returning from targets in the direction of the transmitted acoustic beam arrive at
the transducer elements at different times necessitating relative delaying of the
received echo electrical signals by different amounts to focus the received echoes
, and the delayed echo signals are summed before being fed to the scan converter.
It is common in prior art single-sector scanners to rotate the angulated transmitted
beam by equal scan angle increments, and in the scan converter to sample the focused
echo signals at equal time intervals so that the data samples are along arcs concentric
to the origin point. The cathode ray tube, on the other hand, is a rectangular grid
type display. The function of the scan converter is therefore relatively complex and
a picture of uneven quality often results, worsened by the tendency of the eye to
focus on uneven areas. A single-sector steered beam cardiac scanner with a TV monitor
display is described by Thurstone and von Ramm in "A New Ultrasound Imaging Technique
Employing Two-Dimensional Electronic Beam Steering", Acoustical Holography, Vol. 5,
1974, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 249-259.
[0004] The present invention is applicable also to the multi-sector or "walking beam" ultrasonic
imaging system having a longer linear transducer array for producing a set of sector
scans with the origin points of the sequential sector scans displaced longitudinally
along the array.
[0005] In order to provide correct output echo amplitude data for display in raster scan
format, the input sector geometry is somewhat changed. The scan angles of the acoustic
scan lines are chosen so that they intersect a lateral line at equal increments, i.e.,
the scan angles have equal tangent increments. Along each of these lines the focused
echo signal is sampled and converted to digital format at a rate that varies with
scan angle so
*hat corresponding samples are arranged in parallel rows or raster lines, i.e., the
sampling rate varies inversely with the cosine of the angle of the scan line. Digitized
echo data is written scan line by scan line into a digital memory having a matrix
of storage cell locations in rows and columns, but is read out of memory raster line
by raster line. In the preferred embodiment, the data is written into adjacent columns
of a random access memory whereby data for a raster line is stored in a row of memory,
and then is read out row by row in sequence. To convert back to sector geometry, the
digital echo samples are read out into a shift register or other buffer storage, and
are clocked out of the shift register at a variable rate dependent on the width of
the sector at the raster line being read out and delayed in time dependent on the
location of the edge of the sector from the side of the television screen or other
reference line. These data are passed through a digital-to-analog converter and a
low pass filter to produce the video output signal which is fed to a cathode ray tube
to control the electron beam intensity.
[0006] Memory is required only in the amount needed to store the input digital echo data,
as compared to prior art techniques in which there is a memory location for every
image pixel. For instance, a 32K memory is sufficient for a conventional TV raster
of 400 lines with 300 picture elements each or 120K pixels. For improved efficiency
and real time imaging, the memory is operated in burst mode with alternate reading
in and reading out, and the memory is divided into segments to facilitate writing
of echo data in parallel into the segments and reading out in parallel into a like
number of output buffer shift registers. Some sampling points can be skipped to avoid
high rates of clocking out data in parallel from the shift registers. These data will
be "filled in" by the action of the low pass filter at the output.
[0007] The digital scan conversion apparatus and method of converting ultrasound echo signals
for raster scan display are described with regard to real time single-sector and multi-sector
cardiology and laminography imaging systems.
FIG. 1 is a sketch illustrating operation of a single-sector steered beam ultrasonic
scanner;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the acoustic scan lines of the sector scanner on which
data sample points, located on lateral raster lines designated by letters, are shown
as large dots;
FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of a segment of the scan converter random access memory
showing the pattern of stored echo amplitude data;
FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of the electronics for processing echo data read
out of memory;
FIG. 5 is a system block diagram of the preferred embodiment of the complete scan
converter;
FIG. 6 illustrates the input sector geometry as in FIG. 2 with an addition to facilitate
explanation of the sequence of writing into and reading echo amplitude data out of
the four-segment random access memory in FIG. 5; and
FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of a single-sector scanner imaging system incorporating
the scan converter.
[0008] To facilitate conversion of ultrasound echo data derived by single sector scanning
for real time display on a conventional television monitor, the format of the sector
is somewhat changed. The scan angles are chosen so that the acoustic scan lines intersect
a lateral line at equal increments, and along each of these scan lines a focused received
echo signal is sampled at a rate that varies with the scan angle. Corresponding data
samples are taken at the same value of the z-axis coordinate, whereby the samples
are arranged in a number of rows To form and steer the beam at the other side of the
normal, the timing of excitation pulses 12 is reversed so that the bottom transducer
in FIG. 1 is energized first and the top transducer is energized last. The total sector
scan angle is approximately 60° to o 90 . Echoes returning from targets 14 in the
direction of the transmitted beam arrive at transducer elements 11 at different times
necessitating relative delaying of the received echo electrical signals by different
amounts so that all the signals from a given point target are summed simultaneously
by all elements of the array. The time delays of the transducer element echo signals
are the same as during the transmission operation, but in reverse order so that (for
beam 13) the largest time delay is associated with the bottom transducer in FIG. 1
and the shortest time delay with the top transducer to compensate for acoustic path
propagation delay differences. The linear transducer array is also known as a phased
array. For further information refer to ''Electronic Scanning of Focused Arrays" by
V.G. Welsby, Journal of Sound Vibration (1969), Vol. 8, No. 3, pps. 390-394.
[0009] For real time imaging at a typical frame rate of 30 frames per second, the system
also requires a television monitor on which the total image is built up line by line
from the scan converter memory. From the foregoing description, it is seen that an
electronically controlled, steered ultrasound beam is generated that is capable of
oscillating or rotating motion about the sector origin at the midpoint of the linear
transducer array. For each transmitted steered ultrasound beam, there is a corresponding
focused received echo electrical signal which is fed to the digital scan converter
and is data for the corresponding image line. A single sector image depicting a tomographic
slice of parallel to one another and the linear transducer array. Successively sampled
scan lines are buffered and stored in a digital memory in adjacent columns of a row-column
oriented memory. Thus, memory is required only in the amount needed to store the input
data, and the only storage cell locations that are unused are those intentionally
skipped where the input data near the sector origin is too dense to be processed at
reasonable rates and viewed as individual pixels. For read- out, all data samples
in a row and corresponding to a single value of the z-axis coordinate are read into
a shift register buffer, which is then clocked out at a rate corresponding to the
sector width at that value of z. These data are fed to an analog-to-digital converter,
whose output is low pass filtered and presented to the display. Modifications of the
foregoing preferred embodiment of the scan converter will be discussed subsequently.
[0010] The single-sector steered beam ultrasonic scanner in FIG. 1 has a linear transducer
array 10 comprised of equally spaced elementary transducers 11 which are energized
by excitation pulses 12 in a linear time sequence to form an ultrasound beam 13 and
direct the beam in a preselected azimuth direction to transmit a pulse of ultrasound.
In order to steer the beam electronically to an angle 6 from the normal to the array
longitudinal axis, a time delay increment T
i = (i-l)d sin 6 is added successively to each ith element signal as one moves down
the array from one end (i = 0) to the other (i = N) to exactly compensate for the
propagation path time delay differences that exist under plane wave (Fraun- hofer)
conditions. By progressively changing the time delay between successive excitation
pulses, the angle 6 at one side of the normal is changed by increments. the insonified
object region is displayed in real time on the screen of the television monitor. This
is further explained in detail later with regard to FIG. 7. The single-sector scanner
has both industrial and and medical applications, and is especially advantageous in
medical diagnostics for cardiology and laminography. To image a portion of a heart,
linear transducer array 10 is manually held against the patient's chest wall while
observing the image on the cathode ray tube, and its position is changed until the
desired portion of the heart is imaged. A frame rate of at least 30 frames per second
is needed to prevent blur- . ring of the image due to heart motion. Assuming that
a maximum image depth of 20 centimeters is required or a round trip of 40 centimeters,
and that the velocity of sound in tissue is 150,000 centimeters per second, the rate
of generating steered acoustic beams is limited to about 3,000 per second. For a good
image there should be between 200 and 300 scan lines on the television screen, and
300 lines at 3.000 per second translates to a frame rate of 10 frames per second.
To obtain 30 frames per second, then, there should be three focused received echo
signals per transmitted acoustic beam. This is accomplished by forming the transmitted
acoustic beam using fewer transducer elements than are used to receive the echoes.
The transmitting beam lobe is three times as wide, in the direction of the longitudinal
axis of the transducer array, as the "receiving beams" or focused echoes; that is,
the "receiving beams" are steered or focused within the lobe of the transmitting beam.
The result is that three lines of acoustic echo data are obtained on each transmit-receive
cycle. In general, there may be n echo signals per transmitted beam, and the echo
signals as well as the transmitted beam are steered so that the angles have equal
tangent increments.
[0011] FIG. 2 shows the format of the input sector geometry according to the invention by
which the physical locations of the input echo data to the scan converter are related
to those of the output data of the scan converter in a simple way compatible with
display along a conventional television raster. Acoustic scan lines are indicated
by numbers 1-11, and echo data samples along the scan lines are illustrated as solid
dots and indicated by letters a-r. The scan angles 6 on either side of the normal
through origin point O are chosen to have equal tangent increments, and the acoustic
scan lines intersect a lateral line perpendicular to the normal at equal increments.
Along each of these scan lines, the echo amplitude signal is sampled at a rate which
varies inversely with the cosine of the angle of the scan line. With the x and z coordinates
defined as in FIG. 2, the echo signal is sampled at a rate that varies with the scan
angle so that corresponding samples are taken at the same value of the z-axis coordinate.
To emphasize that the echo data samples are arranged in rows or raster lines parallel
to one another and the linear transducer array, data samples in three of the raster
lines are circled. Within each raster line the echo data samples are equally spaced,
and in the z direction the raster lines are also equally spaced. For small values
of z near the sector origin point 0, where the data samples come very close together,
it is permissible to skip over some of the samples provided the actual sample rate
stays above the Nyquist limit.
[0012] After being sampled and converted to digital form by an analog-to-digital converter,
the echo data samples are buffered and stored in a digital memory having a matrix
of storage cell locations in columns and rows. FIG. 3 shows a random access memory
15 preferably made with MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) field effect transistors or
bipolar transistors, and in such memories storage cell locations are accessed for
the writing in and reading out of echo data by the coincidence of signals on X select
lines 16 and Y select lines 17. Digitized echo data samples along successive scan
lines 1-11 are stored in adjacent columns of random access memory 15, and a typical
pattern of stored data is depicted by solid dots. The sequence of accessing memory
columns for the storage of echo data follows the sequence of generating transmitted
acoustic beams. For example, one sequence is that transmitted beam 1 is produced and
the time delays progressively changed to rotate the transmitted beam in the clockwise
direction and produce beams 2-6, then transmitted beam 11 at the other side of the
normal is generated and the time delays progressively changed to rotate the beam in
a counterclockwise direction and produce beams 10-7. The density of stored echo data
along raster lines a-r increases with distance from the sector origin point, and vacant
storage cell locations are intentionally skipped to keep readout of the output data
from the scan converter within reasonable rates. With this exception, the entire memory
is available for the storage of echo data, as contrasted to prior art scan converter
memories wherein data is stored in a sector pattern so that a large percentage of
storage cell locations are never used.
[0013] Whereas input echo data is written into the digital memory column by column, stored
data is read out of memory row by row in sequence. Further processing of the read-
out memory data, however, is required to convert the rectangular grid memory format
to sector image format. The post-processing electronics is illustrated in simplified
form in FIG. 4. Assuming that readout from memory begins at raster line or row r,
the data samples are read into a buffer storage device such as an n-stage shift register
20. Data is clocked out of shift register 20 to an output digital-to-analog converter
21 at a variable rate corresponding to the width of the sector at that raster line
or value of z (see FIG. 2). In addition to varying the shift register clocks, so that
the sector geometry is obtained, it is also necessary for the control circuitry 22
to delay the start of the clock pulses by varying amounts on each raster line. As
readout from memory proceeds from raster line r toward raster line a, the frequency
of clock pulses increases and the time delay also increases, which is dependent on
the location of the edge of the sector at the row or raster line being read out from
a reference line such as the edge of the television screen. The clock rate can reach
a maximum and can be approximately the same at raster lines near the sector origin,
made possible by skipping input sampling points. The stream of echo data is presented
to a low pass filter 22 before being fed out as a video signal or Z control for varying
the electron beam intensity of the cathode ray tube. The purpose of filtering is to
smooth out the step staircase function at the DAC output. Echo data for a raster line
is clocked out of shift register 20 at TV rates, and in a conventional television
monitor the time for the electron beam to scan across a single line and retrace itself
is 63 microseconds.
[0014] The preferred embodiment in FIG. 5 of the complete digital scan converter can now
be explained. As was mentioned, for every transmitted acoustic beam there are three
focused received echo electrical signals from which three image scan lines on the
television screen can be derived. These ultrasound echo signals are the outputs of
the three summing amplifiers in FIG. 7 which are supplied to the scan converter. Input
analog-to-digital converters 25a-25c sample the respective input amplitude signals
under control of a frequency synthesizer 26 at a rate which varies inversely with
the cosine of the angle of the scan line. It is permissible for frequency synthesizer
26 to operate on the basis of multiplying a base frequency by a rational fraction,
because some frequency error can be tolerated. This means that the data sampling points
in FIG. 2 along the several scan lines may not be exactly at the same z-coordinate.
The digitized data samples, having 8 bits each in the example being given, are fed
to a first-in-first-out input data buffer such as shift registers 27a-27c. Data samples
stored temporarily in the three shift registers are clocked out successively by a
buffer control 28 into a common memory input bus 29.
[0015] The random access memory can be made from the Type 2102 Solid State Memory Chip available
commercially from a number of manufacturers including Intel Corp. and National Semiconductor
Corp. This is a 32K x 8-bit memory divided into four 8K x 8 bit memory banks or segments
30A-30D, each with a matrix of 45 x 180 storage cell locations. The cycle time for
this memory is 450 microseconds, and to achieve the object of real time imaging four
echo data samples, one per segment, are written into memory simultaneously and four
data samples are read out simultaneously. Improved operation is attained by making
one-half of the memory cycles available for read in purposes and one-half for readout
which occurs in apparently simultaneous manner. If the sector is displayed during
30 microseconds out of a possible 50 microseconds, there will be ample time for both
functions since each scanning line including retrace is 63 microseconds. Thus, a burst
mode in which writing occurs for 30 micro- seconds and reading occurs for 30 microseconds
is appropriate.
[0016] To simultaneously write four consecutively digitized echo data signals from a scar.
line into the four memory segments 30A - 30D, input bus 29 is connected directly to
segment 30A, through one unit delay element 31 to segment 30B, through two such delay
elements to segment 30C, and through three of the delay elements to segment 30D. In
each group of four data samples, the first three samples are delayed by variable amounts
and the last has a zero delay so that the four samples can be written into the accessed
storage cell locations at the same time. During the available 30 micro-seconds for
read in as many data samples as can be processed during this time are entered into
the four memory banks. Whenever data for a complete scan line is emptied out of one
of shift registers 27a-27c, data is clocked out of the next input shift register in
sequence. The sequence of storage cell location addresses that controls where each
sampling point is stored, as well as the readout sequence, are stored in memory address
sequence read-only memories 32. ROMs 32, buffer control 28, and frequency synthesizer
26 are controlled by a control and timing unit 33 which can be part of the master
digital controller in FIG. 7. The memory addresses read out of ROMs 32 is 56-bit data,
14 bits for each memory segment.
[0017] Stored echo amplitude data is read out simultaneously from memory segments 30A-30D
into four separate shift registers 34A-34D, one per memory segment. These can be 64
x 8 bit shift registers. To clock out data samples temporarily stored in the shift
registers at a rate corresponding to the width of the sector at the raster line being
read out, an output frequency synthesizer or variable clock 35 is provided for generating
clock pulses which are gated at the proper time to shift registers 34A-34D by counter
and gate circuitry 36. The clock rate at raster line r is, for instance, 6MHz and
at line h is 12 MHz. The counters delay the start of the clock pulses by varying amounts
on each raster line, dependent on the distance from the edge of the screen to the
beginning of the raster line being read out, and are operative to count down and open
a gate at a predetermined count to let the clock pulses through and then close the
gate at another point as the count continues. The counter is reset, ready for the
next cycle of operation. The parameters controlling the frequency synthesizer and
the counters and gates are loaded from output frequency synthesizer and counter read-only
memories 37 that in turn are controlled by control and timing unit 33. Digital data
samples read out in parallel from the four shift registers are presented to a multiplexer
38, and at the output the data samples are in serial groups of four containing one
sample from each shift register. After the data samples are passed through digital-to-analog
converter 39 and low pass filter 40, the resulting video signal is fed to the cathode
ray tube.
[0018] In order to realize the method of operation just discussed as to FIG. 5, the pattern
of storing echo data samples in the memory segments or banks is shown in FIG. 6. Letters
A-D adjacent the scan lines and the sampling points, indicated by solid dots, designate
that the data samples are stored in memory segments 30A-30B. Looking at raster line
j, it is seen that the sequence across the row is A, B, C, D, A, etc. This is the
proper sequence for reading out stored data in parallel from memory segments 30A-30D.
To get this arrangement of stored data, it is necessary to process the memory addressing
of the memory segments from one scan line to the next. Along scan line 1, data samples
for raster lines A-D are stored in the order D, C, B, A; along raster line 2 the order
is A, D, C, B; and so on, as directed by buffer control 28. Another aspect of alternately
reading into memory at 30 microseconds intervals, or one-half of the memory cycle,
is as follows. Less than one full frame of image pixels on the television screen is
changed at any one time, and therefore there is a ripple effect from one frame to
the next, resulting in improved picture quality. Stored echo data is read out of a
memory row at a time determined by the memory address sequencing, and whatever data
is there is read out whether it be newly updated data or "old" data.
[0019] FIG. 7 is a system block diagram of the single sector scanner ultrasonic imager incorporating
the digital scan converter according to the invention. The linear transducer array
is illustrated with only three transducer elements 43a-43c, but in practice the array
has a larger number of transducer elements. The three transmitting and receiving channels
44a-44c are each comprised by level and timing control circuitry 45 under the control
of master digital controller 46 for determining the level and timing of a transmit
pulse generated by transmit pulser 47 and applied to one of the transducer elements.
The receiving channel for processing the received echo electrical signal is comprised
of a preamplifier 48 having a limiter tc protect the sensitive preamplifier inputs
from the high transmitting voltage, and a compression amplifier 49 to reduce the larger
dynamic acoustic range to the smaller range a cathode ray tube display device can
handle. The amplified echo signal is next fed in parallel to three digitally selected
analog delay circuits 50, 50' and 50'' having an associated delay select switch matrix
51, 51' and 51" which, under the control of digital controller 46, selects the delay
element or elements to focus the echo signal in the three delay channels. For each
transmitted acoustic beam, it is recalled, there are three different focused echo
signals within the lobe or angle of the transmitted beam. The other two receiving
channels are identical except for the values of the time delays employed. Digital
controller 46 can take various forms and can be hard-wired logic circuit, but is preferably
a properly programmed mini-computer or microcomputer. In operation, transducer excitation
pulses are generated by the three transmitting channels in time sequence to steer
the generated ultrasound beam and control the scan angle. The received echo signals
are time delayed by different preselected amounts in the three receiving channels,
and in the three delay channels within each of the receiving channels. The delayed
echo signals from the three analog delay circuits 50, one per receiving channel, are
fed to a summing amplifier 52; and the delayed echo signals from the three delay circuits
50' are summed by summing amplifier 52', and those from delay circuits 50'' are summed
by summing
am- plifier 52". The three focused ultrasound echo signals at the summing amplifier
outputs are now processed through digital scan converter 53 to convert the sector
scan format to raster scan format as here described. The scan converter also controls
sweep drivers 54 and the generated X and Y deflection signals for cathode ray tube
55 on which is displayed, in real tire, the single sector image. The order of generating
transmitted acoustic beams is fixed and is preset by digital controller 46, which
supplies coordinating information to the scan converter.
[0020] The components of the digital scan converter can be standard integrated circuits
or conventional circuitry as is presently known in the art. With appropriate modifications
that will be apparent, the scan conversion apparatus and method of converting ultrasound
echo signals are also applicable to a multi-sector scanner ultrasonic imaging system.
Also, the aigital echo output data can be transferred to a storage medium like floppy
disks for permanent storage for display at a later time.
[0021] In summary, the method of scan conversion comprises generating input digital echo
data representing received echo amplitudes at sampling points along scan lines angulated
at angles on either side of the normal having substantially equal tangent increments,
the sampling points on each scan line being taken at the rate which varies inversely
with the cosine cf the scan angle whereby the sampling points are along lateral raster
lines perpendicular to the normal. Digital echo data is written scan line by scan
line into a memory having a matrix of storage cell locations in columns and rows,
but the stored data is read out of memory raster line by raster line. The read-out
digital echo data is then processed to generate output data at a rate dependent upon
the width of the sector at the raster line and delayed in time dependent on the location
of the edge of the sector from a reference line. Memory is required only in the amount
needed to store the input data. In the preferred embodiment of FIG. 5, a 32 K x 8
bit memory provides a display covering approximately 400 lines of 300 picture elements
each (120 K).
1. A scan converter for conversion of ultrasound echo signals in sector scan format
to raster format for display, the echo signals being received in sequence and representing
echo amplitudes along multiple scan lines angulated at angles on either side of the
normal having substantially equal tangent increments, characterized hy
means (25,26) for sampling and converting the input echo signals to digital echo amplitude
data at rates which vary inversely with the cosine of the angle of the scan lines,
whereby sampling points are along lateral raster lines perpendicular to the normal,
a digital memory (30) having a matrix of storage cell locations in columns and rows
each corresponding to a sampling point,
means (33,32,31) for writing the digital echo data for the multiple scan lines into
said memory column by column, and for reading out the stored echo data row by row
into an output buffer storage (34), and
means (37,35,36) for serially reading out the digital echo data from said output buffer
storage at a variable rate dependent on the width of the sector at the raster line
being read out and delayed in time dependent on the location of the edge of the sector
from a reference line.
2. The scan converter of claim 1, further characterized by means (39) for converting
the digital echo samples read out of said buffer storage (34) to analog echo samples,
and means (40) for low pass filtering the analog data samples to produce a video signal
for controlling the electron beam intensity of a cathode ray tube.
3. The scan converter of claim 2, characterized in that said output buffer storage
(34) is comprised by at least one shift register operated at a variable clock rate
for readout.
4. The scan converter of claim 3 further characterized by an input buffer storage
(27) for temporarily storing said digital echo amplitude data before reading into
memory.
5. The scan converter of claims 1 - 4, characterized in that said memory is divided
into a plurality of segments of storage cell locations (30A - 30D) and said output
buffer storage is comprised by a plurality of shift registers (34A - 34D) each operatively
coupled to one of the memory segments.
6. The scan converter of claims 1 - 4, further characterized by an input buffer storage
(25) comprised by at least one shift register for storing the digital echo data before
writing into memory.
7. The scan converter of claim 5, characterized in that said shift registers (34A
- 34D) are operated in parallel at variable clock rates for readout, and characterized
in that the scan converter further includes a multiplexer (38) between said shift
registers (34A - 34D) and output digital-to-analog converter (39).
8. The scan converter of claim 7, further characterized by delay elements (31) connected
in series between the input buffer storage (27A - 27D) and said memory to facilitate
parallel writing of the digital echo data into said memory.
9. A method of converting ultrasound echo signals in sector scan format to raster
format for display, characterized by the steps of:
generating input digital echo data representing received echo amplitudes at sampling
points along multiple scan lines angulated at angles on either side of the normal
having substantially equal tangent increments, the sampling points on each scan line
being taken at a rate which varies inversely with the cosine of the scan angle whereby
the sampling points are along lateral raster lines perpendicular to the normal,
writing said digital echo data scan line by scan line into a random access memory
having a matrix of storage cell locations in columns and rows, and reading out the
stored digital echo data raster line by raster line, and
processing the read-out digital data to generate output digital echo data at a rate
dependent upon the width of the sector at the raster line and delayed in time dependent
on the location of the edge of the sector from a reference line.
10. The method of claim 9, further characterized by the steps of converting the output
digital echo data to analog echo data and low pass filtering the analog echo data
to produce a video signal to be fed to a cathode ray tube to control the electron
beam intensity.
11. The method of claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the step of writing digital
echo data into memory scan line by scan line comprises writing the data into memory
column by column so that data for a raster line are stored in a row, and the step
of reading stored data out of memory raster line by raster line comprises reading
the stored data out row by row in sequence.
12. The method of claim 11, characterized in that the step of writing digital echo
data into memory comprises writing only preselected data into memory and skipping
other sampling points whereby the processing of readout echo data is at a variable
rate dependent upon the width of the sector at the raster line and it does not exceed
a predetermined maximum rate.
13. The method rf claim 12, characterized in that the steps of writing digital echo
data into memory and reading stored echo data out of memory are performed in burst
mode alternately writing in and reading out.
14. The method of claim 9, further characterized by the steps of sampling the input
echo signals at rates which vary inversely with the cosine of the angle of the scan
line and converting the samples to digital echo amplitude data, and wherein said step
of writing said digital echo data is from successive scan lines into adjacent columns
of the random access memory, whereby the digital echo data stored in memory rows are
along lateral raster lines through the sector perpendicular to the normal, and further
characterized by reading the stored digital echo data out of said memory row by row,
and processing the readout echo data raster line by raster line to generate the output
digital echo data, and converting the output digital echo data to analog echo data
to be fed to a cathode ray tube to control the electron beam intensity.
15. The method of claims 9 or 14 further characterized by the step of buffering the
digital echo amplitude data before wiiting into memory, and wherein the steps of writing
into memory and reading out of memory are performed alternately for approximately
equal time intervals.